This invention relates to a driving device for an outboard motor and more particularly to an improved and simplified control device for such a motor.
As is well known, outboard motors are conventionally steered by means of a steering handle that is affixed to the steering shaft of the outboard motor for steering it about its vertically extending steering axis. For convenience, it has been proposed to provide both throttle and transmission controls on the steering handle of the outboard motor so that the operator may control steering, engine speed and shifting with a single hand. Although such devices offer considerable advantage to the operator, it has been the practice to employ a single rotatable handle that controls both steering and shifting. Using such single handle controls introduces a fairly substantial amount of complication into the mechanism for operating both the transmission and throttle. In addition, the relatively compact nature of the steering mechanism makes it difficult to provide such controls within a single handle. In addition, such single handle controls are not always the most convenient to an operator.
Although it has been proposed to provide separate throttle and transmission controls, such separate controls have both been rotatable about the same axis and thus many of the problems attendant with the single handle control are attendant with these separate controls.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved and simplified control device for an outboard motor.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a convenient control device for an outboard motor and one which has relatively simple and uncomplicated construction.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a steering, throttle and transmission control for an outboard motor that are convenient for the operator to handle and yet which provide separate controls.
Although it has been the practice to provide the throttle and transmission controls on the steering handle of an outboard motor, it is still necessary for the operator to reach back to the motor to shut it off. That is, it has been the conventional practice to mount the kill switch for the outboard motor directly on the power head. This is now always convenient for the operator.
It is, therefore, a still further object of this invention to provide an improved control device for an outboard motor wherein all of the major controls are readily accessible to the operator.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a control device for an outboard motor wherein the steering, throttle control, transmission control and engine kill switch are all located at the end of the steering handle and in close proximity to the operator while still affording separate controls for each component.